Why tradies need public liability insurance

The world of business insurance can sometimes seem complex but it is absolutely necessary for any tradie on any job site.

Public liability insurance may not be mandated by law, but many employers will not allow a tradie onto their job site without the cover.

So what is public liability insurance and why is it so important?

Public liability insurance covers you from costs related to causing injury to others, called third parties in insurance-speak, or damage to property. Third parties can be anyone – a member of the public, a customer, a supplier or a contractor.

Rosemary Callaghan, Team Leader at imar, said that there is some misconceptions around public liability cover which tradies need to understand.

“Any ABN holder needs to organise their own public liability insurance,” Callaghan said. “The boss definitely cannot take care of public liability cover.

“A lot of tradies ring us for other insurance but a lot of people will say that their boss has said they don’t need public liability cover because you are covered under their policy and that is absolutely not the case.”

The specifics of public liability cover will vary depending on how much is needed to be covered (which insurers call limits) and the occupation you fall under.

imar offers three limits of $5 million, $10 million and $20 million. While these may sound like pie in the sky figures, financial costs related to property damage or causing injury can be seriously high and could cripple a business so it makes sense to protect both yourself, and your livelihood.

One of the key things to remember when looking for public liability insurance is what is not covered. Insurers call these exclusions and many cheaper policies will include a tonne of exclusions for things you might normally do in your day-to-day work.

For example, imar have seen policies with exclusions for work on certain sites like government buildings or schools, which makes it difficult to secure a certificate of currency.

“We see a lot of policies that have got that so many exclusions that tradies may as well not even have the cover,” Callaghan continued. “When people are just looking at price, they find out when something has happened that they aren’t covered, and all of a sudden it is not about price anymore.

imar can help tradies find the right public liability insurance to suit their needs. The experienced staff at imar can help tradies, even those with specialist jobs – like tree loppers or high-rise window cleaners. Callaghan states that “we have tailor-made our policies over the previous years around areas where we have seen things go wrong for clients. We make sure our tradies are protected.”

Find out more

Discover the ease of dealing with imar for all your tradies insurance needs. Call us today on 1800 284 627, or pop your details into the form on our ‘Get a quote’ page.

This is a general overview of insurance issues. To the extent that any material in this document may be considered advice, it does not take into account your objectives, needs or financial situation. You should consider whether the advice is appropriate for you and review any relevant Product Disclosure Statement and policy wording before taking out an insurance policy.